Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure generally relates to online and/or mobile payments and more particularly to a gift suggestion system utilizing online and/or mobile payments.
Related Art
More and more consumers are purchasing items and services over electronic networks such as, for example, the Internet. Consumers routinely purchase products and services from merchants and individuals alike. The transactions may take place directly between a conventional or on-line merchant or retailer and the consumer, and payment is typically made by entering credit card or other financial information. Transactions may also take place with the aid of an on-line or mobile payment service provider such as, for example, PayPal, Inc. of San Jose, Calif. Such payment service providers can make transactions easier and safer for the parties involved. Purchasing with the assistance of a payment service provider from the convenience of virtually anywhere using a mobile device is one main reason why online and mobile purchases are growing very quickly.
One area in which online and mobile payment may be utilized is in purchasing gifts for other people (i.e., gift receivers). Conventionally, purchasing gifts for gift receivers requires that the gift giver research items for purchase, guess which of those items that the gift receiver would enjoy, and purchase that item for the gift receiver. However, such conventional methods of purchasing gifts are time consuming for the gift giver and inaccurate with regards to selecting items that the gift receiver might enjoy. As such, gift givers may spend a significant amount of time finding gifts for gift receivers, and many of those gifts will still be returned by the gift receivers to the merchant from which they were purchased. Attempts to remedy this situation have included gift receivers providing a gift registry at a specific merchant, such as, for example, a wedding gift registry at a home furnishings merchant. This allows gift givers to check the gift registry for gifts to buy for the gift receiver from the specific merchant. However, such gift registries are typically only provided for special occasions (e.g., weddings, following the birth of children, etc.), and thus such solutions only address situations where the gift receiver explicitly provides the items they would like from a specific merchant for a specific occasion. As such, gift giving on non-special occasions to gift receivers that have not explicitly designated which items they would like from a specific merchant still suffers from the issues discussed above.
Thus, there is a need for an improved gift giving system.
Embodiments of the present disclosure and their advantages are best understood by referring to the detailed description that follows. It should be appreciated that like reference numerals are used to identify like elements illustrated in one or more of the figures, wherein showings therein are for purposes of illustrating embodiments of the present disclosure and not for purposes of limiting the same.